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A ride in a 1974 Fiat 124 TC station wagon

October 24, 2013

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While most of us probably picture the Fiat 500 as the quintessential Italian city car, there was one other car that not only managed to eclipse the production figures of the Cinquecento, it stayed in production under license until just a short time ago. While the Cinquecento, which entered production in 1957, might have been Europe's budget wheels for a long period of time, the Fiat 124, in all its iterations, was arguably one of the most widely licensed sedan designs of all time.

With the (very) relative ubiquity of Fiat 124 Spiders in the U.S., it's easy to forget that 124 sedans and wagons also roamed our roads at one point in time. And it is undeniably the 124 sedans and wagon that are tougher to find today than most other mass-produced American-market Fiat offerings from the 1950s through the early 1980s, when Fiat left our shores.

We saw Mario D'Agostino's pristine Fiat 124 TC station wagon from 1974 just a few days ago. A longtime Fiat enthusiast, D'Agostino keeps a fleet of (mostly red) Italian machinery that is a simply dazzling sight. Perhaps one of the rarest cars in his collection, just in terms of remaining examples in North America, is the U.S.-market 124 TC station wagon.

This 1974 example is one of just a dozen remaining wagons on our shores. Photo by Jay Ramey

If you lived on the East or West Coast in the 1960s and the 1970s, you'll remember these. But, as budget-import transportation, many of the 124 sedans and wagons were used up and thrown away. Which is a shame: These are remarkably simple, yet elegantly engineered, cars.

The 124 range debuted in 1966, replacing the 1300 and 1500 range of cars that were considered to be Fiat's relatively upscale offerings. Only the transmission was carried over from its predecessors. Other than that, the 124 was a clean-sheet design, representing an evolution of the three-box-sedan shape, which was in vogue. The 124 sedan featured a range of engines, with the 1,197-cc OHV inline-four engine producing 59 hp. Dubbed the 1200, the base version of the car was adequate enough to keep things moving, but it's the 1,438-cc Fiat 124 1400 that was the more aspirational car of the day. Things got even more serious with the 1400 and 1600 twin-cam versions, though horsepower stayed under the century mark. Engine choices for the Sport Spider were a little more, ahem, sporty, and with 124 engines all being plug-and-play, D'Agostino put an 1800 engine from a Spider into his 124 TC station wagon.

But first we asked him just how he and his brother, who's also a Fiat fan, got into Fiats in the first place.

Remaining sedans easily outnumber wagons in the U.S. Photo by Jay Ramey

“We've always been enthused by Fiats because, when we were kids, my parents would just take us to Italy, 'cause they're both from Italy,” D'Agostino says. “I'm first generation, and me and my brother would just be fascinated by the little Fiats like this, the Alfa Romeos, and we'd always be like, 'When I get older, that's what I'm going to get!'”

D'Agostino got this example six years ago, finding it in a dusty garage in Connecticut, kept by a friend who has been a helpful source for Italian car parts. D'Agostino's friend mentioned in passing that he had a complete 124 station wagon just sitting in the garage when D'Agostino stopped by to pick up some other parts one day, and he had to have a look. Soon, the 124 station wagon was his.

The car had been sitting for a while, and it was a little scruffy. But it was complete, and D'Agostino embarked on a complete restoration.

The interior is quite luxurious compared to the 500. Photo by Jay Ramey

“I stripped the whole car down, took the windshield out, the dash. There was nothing left in it. It's like when it goes down the assembly line: The only thing on it was the wiring harness,” D'Agostino recalls.

“It was originally a California car, and that's why the interior, the seats--you know, like in the sun, they get burnt looking. That's how it was,” D'Agostino says. “But the dash was good. There was just a little crack that I fixed. The seats I had redone. I did the headliner. I did that myself. The rug could no longer be found. I had to have that made in pieces, rather than when it came originally when it was all one piece.”

D'Agostino spent about 3 years restoring this example, found in Connecticut. Photo by Jay Ramey

By the time D'Agostino was done, he was in possession of one of the best Fiat 124 station wagons in the U.S. While it cannot be claimed to be all original, the 1800 engine out of the Spider really gives this 124 the ability to keep up with freeway traffic on the East Coast, which happens to have more in common with traffic in Italy than it does Midwest traffic. The 124 TC was built to compete with the best midsize (by European standards) sedans of the time, so the back roads are truly where it shines.

“Even this, it had four wheel discs from '69,” D'Agostino says. “Twin cams -- BMW didn't have twin cams! They were good little cars but expensive to keep going.”

The rear seats fold flat to give extra cargo room. Photo by Jay Ramey

The 124 purrs nicely on startup, without any vibration, and takes off eagerly. The four-speed gearbox in this example is quite a reliable unit for the time. With the entire 124 range's mechanicals designed for maximum ease of maintenance and compatibility, it's also an easy one to work on. The 124 garnered a lot of praise for stability at speed, and though it is said to be a little nose-heavy, the car had excellent road manners.

“It handles good. It's just going back in time. It's making me feel like a kid again. 'Cause my dad used to have it, so I like driving this rather than, say, a Ferrari or whatever. Because it's like -- I like a Ferrari, don't get me wrong, I have one -- but, if you drive this, it's like a different feeling,” D'Agostino says.

Both Fiat and import dealerships sold quite a few examples of the 124 sedan and wagon when they were new, but it's no secret that it's mostly the 124 Sport Spiders that have survived here.

“There's a guy in Texas that has one, but, aside from that, you never really see them. You'll see the sedans, like the 124 special, but not too many wagons” D'Agostino says. “Most of the people that had these, they were just economical cars. And, like, once it started breaking, they got rid of it and bought a new car.”

D'Agostino installed an 1800 engine from the Sport Spider. Photo by Jay Ramey

The 124 sedan and wagon left production in 1974, though the 124 Sport Spider stayed in production well into the 1980s. In the U.S. market, the sedan was replaced by the 131, a larger and more complex car overall. There are still examples of the 131 left out there, in enthusiast ownership, but it suffered the same fate as the 124 sedan and wagon: being a three-box family car that was bought to be used and replaced once it got old.

Fiat 124 sedans and wagons, especially the base models like this one (as opposed to the quad-headlight Special versions), are hard to come by. We asked D'Agostino how many 124 wagons he thought are left in the U.S.

“I don't think even a dozen. I see them once in a while on eBay. They're all Earl Scheib-ed or something,” D'Agostino says with a laugh.

And that's likely a very good estimate. There are only a couple classic events around the country where bread-and-butter Fiat models like this one show up, and they don't exactly outnumber any other Fiat models in attendance.

The Fiat zips about at Lime Rock Park. Photo by Jay Ramey

1974 Fiat 124 TC vital stats

The 124 ended up being a standard car not only for Italy but pretty much all of Europe. The entirely new VAZ plant, set up in the entirely new town of Togliatti (note the Italian name) a few hundred miles east of Moscow, produced the 124 sedan and wagon starting in 1971, with very few changes. The 124 range gave rise to whole range of VAZ cars, sold overseas as the Ladas, with the licensed version of the 124 sedan called the VAZ 2101 remaining in production until 1988. Its successors remained on the line even longer, with the last VAZ 2106 leaving the assembly in 2006. Another one of its relatives, the 2104 wagon, left production in September 2012. The 124 was also assembled in Turkey, Spain, and India, sometimes being badged under local brands.

For being the iconic car that it is, the 124 is often overlooked by collectors. And while the Cinquecento might win the cuteness award, 20 million copies of the 124 sedan and wagon were made under various names across the world.